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Take Our Rahway Artist Housing Survey!
The empty lot behind this building is the future site of AFHDC’s affordable artist housing in Rahway, NJ.
Last week, The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) launched a market study of those in the arts, entertainment and creative industries to determine the feasibility of and interest in affordable housing in Rahway, NJ. The launch event took place at the Hamilton Stage, the newest component of the booming Rahway Arts District (RAD).
This first step–a four-week initiative–is looking for feedback from those working in the arts who live in the region spanning metropolitan New York and central and northern New Jersey. The survey’s results will help shape the Rahway Residence for the Arts, a 69-unit affordable housing project to be developed by the AFHDC. Of course, the more people who take the ten-minute survey, the better, so if you’re interested, visit www.RahwayArtistHousingSurvey.org!
The proposed site is in the middle of the Rahway Arts District, on now-vacant land between the Hamilton Stage and the Union County Performing Arts Center, and only three blocks from Rahway’s New Jersey Transit train station. The AFHDC development team includes Crawford Street Partners of Newark, NJ, and the Ingerman Group of Cherry Hill, NJ. A former two-story office building located on the site will be donated to the City of Rahway for use as an arts education facility.
Check out some video highlights from the launch (embedded below), which also includes photos of the neighborhood. During the event, attendees learned about AFHDC plans to redevelop the property owned and previously used by Elizabethtown Gas at 210 Central Avenue. The site will include spaces devoted to resident and community cultural use such as rehearsal rooms, galleries, studios, and an arts education facility, in addition to affordable housing for artists.
Along with Actors Fund President and CEO Joe Benincasa and the AFHDC’s Scott Weiner, attendees included leaders of the New Jersey arts community: Leo Vasquez of Rutgers University’s Arts Build Communities; Teya David and Libby Reid of the Union County Cultural & Heritage Commission; and Karen Pinzolo of ArtPride NJ.. Also in attendance were Rachael Faillace, executive director of the Rahway Arts District; Russ Taylor, president and CEO of the RSI Bank in Rahway; and Rahway officials including Samson Steinman, president of Rahway City Council and executive director of the Union County Performing Arts Center and Hamilton Stage, and William Rack of the Rahway Redevelopment Commission. Actors and other artists living and working in the region who would benefit from the availability of affordable housing also attended the event and were among the first to complete the online survey.
In May of this year, the city of Rahway designated the non-profit AFHDC as the redeveloper of the site for the affordable housing project. Together with its development partners, the AFHDC is planning to develop, own and manage affordable rental units for individuals and families with low and moderate incomes. Current plans anticipate construction to begin in 2013.
This is the first step in a community engagement effort that will be documented and shared widely. The survey will close on September 14th, after which the results will be captured in a report and posted on The Actors Fund website.
The Actors Fund Housing portfolio includes The Lillian Booth Actors Home, an assisted living and skilled nursing care facility in Englewood, NJ; as well as affordable supportive housing at The Palm View in West Hollywood, CA; The Dorothy Ross Friedman Residence (formerly The Aurora) in New York City, and The Schermerhorn in Downtown Brooklyn. Additionally, the AFHDC is actively evaluating opportunities for future developments in New York City, Newark, and Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Affordable Housing Update!
A shot from the ArtPlace grant announcement: Keith McNutt, Actors Fund; Olga Garay-English, Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs; Jessica Wethington-McLean, Bringing Back Broadway and Council Member José Huizar, Scott Weiner, Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation; Teri Deaver, Artspace; Tim Halbur, Artplace; Travis Preston, California Institute of the Arts; and Aileen Adams, Office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The last few weeks have been incredibly exciting for the Broadway Arts Center project in downtown Los Angeles, for which The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) has been playing a critical role. On June 5, AFHDC announced the formalization of a new partnership with the Minneapolis-based Artspace as part of the project, which hopes to create a mixed-use development comprising a black box theater, art gallery, creative commercial space and affordable housing for artists. And to further underscore the project’s viability, ArtPlace (a new national collaboration of 11 major national and regional foundations, six of the nation’s largest banks, and eight federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, dedicated to transforming communities with strategic investments in the arts) announced on June 12 that the Broadway Arts Center will receive $470,000 – the largest national grant to be awarded.
Marking World AIDS Day 2011
World AIDS Day 2011 poster design by www.CraigArtDesign.wordpress.com.
World AIDS Day 2011 marks the 30th year of the fight against HIV/AIDS, the tragic pandemic that continues to affect the lives of millions of people around the world. To commemorate those we’ve lost and to support the many living and coping with the disease, The Actors Fund HIV/AIDS Initiative commissioned this special poster by graphic designer Craig Russell. A client of the Initiative who generously volunteered his services, the empty chair encourages us to take a moment to remember the many people in the entertainment community we’ve lost to AIDS, from performers to patrons.
Throughout his graphic design career, Craig has worked with a numerous organizations, spending the bulk of his time with Channel 13/WNET Television. He has served on the National Board of Directors of The Graphic Artists Guild, done projects with Mary Corliss at MOMA’s Film Stills Archive, and did a series of five large pastel promo portraits of Katharine Hepburn for the Quad Cinema’s renovation, about which Hepburn wrote in a letter that he made her look “G** damned whiiZZingly fascinating!”
Additionally, the staff of The Actors Fund’s HIV/AIDS Initiative took some time out for this special World AIDS Day 2011 video message, embedded below.
The Actors Fund HIV/AIDS Initiative works with men and women in the entertainment industry to create confidential, holistic plans and support systems that will meet each person’s emotional, medical and financial needs over the long term. Our experienced Social Workers provide case management, advocacy, crisis intervention, individual and group counseling, financial assistance, financial management skills development, and referrals to community resources. For more information, visit www.actorsfund.org.
Taking Time Out: Liz Callaway Visits The Lillian Booth Actors Home
Liz greets Peter Neufeld (one of Broadway's most successful managers and producers) during her September 8 visit to The Lillian Booth Actors Home.
One of the more special highlights of life at The Lillian Booth Actors Home are the regular visits by some of the entertainment industry’s best and brightest, each of whom take time out of their busy schedules to perform for and spend some time with their now-retired compatriots residing at The Home. This month’s amazingly generous guest was Tony nominee and Emmy winner Liz Callaway, who performed a few of her favorite show-stopping numbers (including Memory and Something Wonderful) accompanied by the always-fabulous keyboardist Phil Reno. Liz was also interviewed by John Erman, and spent time greeting all of the residents who’d stopped by for the festivities.
A very special thank-you to our wonderful supporter John Erman, who donates his time and talent to make these special monthly visits possible.
John Erman and Liz.
The Actors Fund’s Lillian Booth Actors Home is an assisted living and skilled nursing care facility that provides a comfortable living environment on six acres of property in Englewood, New Jersey. Click here to learn more about The Home and its services.
Hey Los Angeles — Help Us Out By Taking The Broadway Arts Center Survey
Interested in assisting the cultural development of downtown L.A.? The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC), together with its partners including the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and Artspace, has launched a National Endowment for the Arts–funded survey to assess the housing needs of the Los Angeles entertainment, performing and visual arts communities.
To make it a success, we’re encouraging members of the creative community — artists of all disciplines, individuals associated with the arts, entertainment and creative industries, arts and cultural organizations and creative commercial businesses — to complete the survey before October 10, 2011.
This project will help further the development of downtown Los Angeles’s Broadway Arts Center (BAC), a facility still in the planning stages, which will provide affordable artists’ housing, performance/exhibition space, educational facilities, and creative business space, and serve to help in the revitalization of the Historic Broadway Theater District. The results will help the partners secure further support and funding for the project, as well as influence the BAC’s location, size, number, and type of creative spaces/facilities, design features, amenities, programs and affordability.
We want to be sure the new facility meets everyone’s needs throughout the community, so the more of you who participate, the better! There are two separate surveys, one for individuals and another for organizations, so please take a few minutes to complete one of them (or both, if you’re eligible), and then help spread the word to your colleagues.
Please visit http://www.creativespacela.org/ to take the survey, and thank you for your participation.
The project team consists of a public/private partnership including The Actors Fund, The Los Angeles DCA, Bringing Back Broadway, the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA-LA), the City Planning Department Urban Design Studio, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and Artspace. If you’d like BAC project updates, “like” Creative Space L.A. on Facebook.
The AFHDC works to develop affordable, supportive and senior housing for the performing arts community that improves lives, creates jobs, fosters economic development and revitalizes communities. For more information visit The Actors Fund’s website, or contact the AFHDC’s President and CEO, Scott Weiner at 212.221.7300 ext. 106 or sweiner@actorsfund.org.
Building Communities: The Schermerhorn
Located at the crossroads of Brooklyn, The Schermerhorn — a 21st century twist on affordable housing — is a joint project of The Actors Fund in conjunction with Common Ground (who oversees the building’s operations) and CUCS (Center for Urban Community Services, which takes care of the social services for the special needs tenants). And because the three agencies work together, all of the policies come from an amazing collaboration, and represent the best of what they can do.
At first glance, The Schermerhorn’s architecture — created by Ennead Architects — is unusual for affordable housing, sporting a steel and glass façade constructed in a style more commonly used in luxury buildings. In a New York Magazine review of The Nehmiah Spring Creek Homes in East New York and The Schermerhorn, architecture critic Justin Davidson praised the design’s departure from the accepted norm: “Both these versions of affordable housing reject the utopian visions that once fueled modernists’ social zeal and scarred our cities with towers for the poor. Instead, in their quiet, pragmatic way, they prove what the marriage of philanthropy and government can achieve and demonstrate that pinched budgets need not translate into poverty of imagination.”
Matthew Brookshire
The Schermerhorn’s mission is not only to provide affordable housing and social services for those in need, it’s also providing low-cost performance and rehearsal space for local artists. As part of his job as The Actors Fund’s Activities Manager at The Schermerhorn, Matthew Brookshire develops opportunities for the tenants to build a community within the building, and to integrate the building with the neighborhood surrounding it.
“We’re also bringing The Actors Fund to Brooklyn,” says Matthew, who has worked as a performer, director and stage manager. “We’re its ambassadors. Not only do we want to provide affordable housing to help artists succeed, we strive to be good neighbors, and to promote all the services of The Fund.”
The Brooklyn Ballet's rehearsal space.
Having received funding from the Department of Cultural Affairs, creating affordable space for community arts groups was one of The Schermerhorn’s top priorities. From the project’s outset, the main, glass-walled street-level retail space was intended for a not-for-profit arts tenant. That turned out to be the Brooklyn Ballet, which is transforming the open space into its office, school and rehearsal studio. The glass wall has also enabled a sort of educational dialogue within the community, as passersby often stop to enjoy the beauty of dance.
“The interactive quality of the space has contributed to changing the overall feel of Schermerhorn Street,” says Matthew. “This light and transparency — it was done on purpose.”
Also on street level is The Schermerhorn’s performance space, a clean, flexible black box that, depending on configuration, holds up to 200 people (though its primary set-up is better for a crowd of 100). Perfect for film screenings, dance, theatrical performances and special events, The Actors Fund is working to make the venue attractive and affordable to the Brooklyn performing arts community.
The feeling of community visible to everyone at street level continues upstairs to the building’s 216 studio apartments. Currently, there are 50 artist tenants — there will eventually be 100 — and 116 with special needs, the majority of which are formerly homeless, mentally ill or living with HIV-AIDS. The residential floors are an extension of the ground level’s forward-thinking design. Filled with angles, the hallways are anything but institutional. And while the small but bright and intelligently-appointed single-occupancy studios are admittedly not for everyone in the arts community, they are perfect for someone at a certain point in their career, whether it’s when they’re emerging, in transition, or retiring.
In addition to the building’s affordable rent, the artist tenants can use the ground floor theater for rehearsals and performances (“I love to see the tenants down here rehearsing, making the most of this amazing resource,” says Matthew) and utilize the building’s on-site social services. They can also take advantage of the building’s other amenities, which include health and wellness activities such as free yoga and acupuncture. There’s also a gym, computer lab, common room and spacious terrace, where a tenant “green thumb club” plans to tend an herb garden this spring.
All of the tenants are encouraged to take part in a variety of group activities, many of which are arranged by Activities Coordinator Andrew Miller. There’s a monthly cooking class (followed the next week by a gathering in which the students prepare a meal for the other residents), a film series featuring movies chosen by tenants (Andrew comes from the film world, so he encourages uniquely inspired choices), dog walking excursions to the Williamsburg BARC shelter and volunteer opportunities in the soup kitchen and pantry at St. John’s Bread & Life Program in Bedford-Stuyvesant. 
There are other activities as well, from in-house gatherings to field trips. The activities attract participation from throughout the building, creating a wonderful dialogue between the arts and special needs tenants, who are constantly learning and growing from interacting with each other.
“It’s a very exciting and sometimes quite challenging place to work,” says Matthew. “I’m lucky to work with a lot of dedicated people whose hearts are in the right place.”
But as challenging as it sometimes may be, the community they are working to build is a beautiful one, a snapshot of which was taken by photographer Michele Asselin’s “The Schermerhorn: Summer 2010.” The portrait project is a permanent installation in the offices, and consists of over 60 stunning black-and-white photographs of residents and staff.
“The face of downtown Brooklyn is changing,” says Matthew. “This is affordable housing that’s beautiful yet accessible. And it enables artists to stay in New York and focus on pursuing their careers.”
Even though The Schermerhorn hasn’t been open for very long, it’s already changed people’s lives. And Matthew isn’t immune to the positive forces at work in the building, either.
“For me, I feel such a different connection to the city than when I was only performing or working backstage. I was looking for a way to focus my energy outward, and now I feel a different relationship with my community just walking down the street. I’m surprised every day.”
The Schermerhorn is currently accepting applications for residency. Visit The Actors Fund website for more information on how to apply.
–Karissa Krenz
Actors Fund Trustee Annette Bening, on Affordable Housing for Artists
[This article, by Annette Bening, appeared in our Fall 2010 issue of Marquee, The Newsletter of The Actors Fund. Ms. Bening recently joined The Actors Fund’s Board of Trustees. Click here to read this issue of Marquee, which outlines the full scope of The Fund’s supportive, affordable and senior housing initiatives.]
Annette Bening, The Actors Fund Trustee
Dear Friends,
Decent, affordable housing for working professionals, colleagues with special needs and seniors is essential. The Actors Fund is focused on building more opportunities for people who need housing. This issue of Marquee is devoted to all our housing programs and services, and I’d like to tell you why I want to help my colleagues in this way.
Working actors and others in show business need decent housing because earnings are low. Most people earn about $23,000 a year and have to live in urban areas with high costs of living. They also need access to good public transportation so they can get to and from auditions, evening performances and off-hour sessions and film shoots. Working in the arts, hours are seldom regular.
Also, seniors need a suitable place to retire for similar reasons.
Pensions are often modest, savings difficult to accumulate because
of the ups and downs of the business, and then there’s lifestyle —
it’s great to retire in a place with others who devoted their careers
to performing arts and entertainment.
A measure of our humanity is how we care for the ill among us.
We should be proud of how we help at our four residences — and
how the healthy and working join with the ill and disabled to build
community. The Actors Fund is devoted to caring for one another
and dedicated to collaborating with government, foundations,
individuals, unions and guilds, trade associations — everyone who
shares our commitment to supporting the Arts by helping the Artist.
Thank you for your support, and for your continued or future
support. Visit us online at actorsfund.org and make a tax-deductible
donation today.
Annette Bening, Trustee of The Actors Fund
The Actors Fund Blog 
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